Apparatus for the control of railway-trains.



J. P. COLEMAN.

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Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

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3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Nov. 10,1908

I, J. P. COLEM'AN. APPARATUS FOR THE CONTROL OF RAILWAY TBA INS. APPLICATION Mum nun. 2111908.

WITNESSES J. P. COLEMAN. APPARATUS FOR, THE OONTBdL 0F RAILWAY TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED EAR. 2'1. 190B. 903,360. Q Patented Nov. 10,1908. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNCSIS UNITED-STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PnEssLEY COLEMAN, or NEW YORK, N. r. ASSIGNOR TO THE UNIoN swrrou & SIGNA COMPANY, or SWISSYALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

I ax-Pumps roii TEE common or RAILWAY-TRAINS.

To dll'whom it concern: ,.Be it known that I, JOHN Pnnssnnr Conuuun, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented. a new arid useful Apparatus for the Control of .Rlilway-Trains, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, in Wl'ilcl1} Figure 1 is a .view largely diagrammatic of one form'of apparatus embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the three-way escape valve; Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view show'in the motive device for closing the escape'va ve and re-settiug the trip-arm; Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showing 'a modification of the speed-con- .trollcd valve; Fig. 5 is a view similar to ig. 1, but showing a modification; l i 6 is a diagrammatic view showing a still inrther modification; Fig. 7 is a detail view showing a whistle attachment for the brake release valve; and Fig. 8 is a detail view showing a modified form "of connection for;

closing the release valve and. returning the tripf'to operative position. yinvention has relation to the control of railway trains, and more particularly to.

speed at the timeof'the operation.

-a simple, cheap My present-in voution isdesignedto avoid the employment of mechanical locks, pawl-s, springs, or like appliances, and to provide and effective trip valve mechanism carried by the vehicle. and which will be free from delicate parts or other mmpli ations which tend to retard the. free and accurate workingof the valve even though it and its "supports may be .coated with ice and sleet, which is unavoidable at certain times of the year in certain latitudes.

A. further object of my invention is to .Bpecification of Letters Patent. Application filed latch 27, 1908. I Serial No. 428,546.

Patented Nov. 10, 1908-,

provide im roved means of this character which will e rendered effective to influence the speed of the train only when such speed exceeds a predetermined rate.-

The precise nature of my invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanyin drawings, in which I have shown.

severalem odiments-thereof, it being premised,'however, that various other'chan s I may be made therein by those skilled in t e' of my.

art, without departing from the sec invention, as defined in the append claims.

In these drawings, the numeral 2''desig-- nates the train pipe of a brake system, which is shown as provlded with a branch 3 lead ing to a reservoir 4, which may be placed within the locomotive cab or in the motormans box, or at. any other convenient loca tion. The pi e 3 is provided with a check valve 5, whic is so arranged as to permit .the reservoir to receive air from the. train pipe atthe usual pressure, but to retain air within the reservoir at a practically constant pressure, even when that within the train pipe is completely exhausted.

6 designates a cylinder, havin therein tivo connected Sistons 7. and 8 o unequal areas. This cy inder is provided with an inlet port 9, leading into a small chamber 10. which connected. by a pipe 11 with the rrservoir 4. The port 9 is controlled by 11. valve 12, which is carried by the movable core or plunger or an electro-magnet 13. When this magnet is energized, the valve 12 is held in its openedposition, and pressure from the reservoir is admitted into the cylinder Gagainst the larger pistons. When the magnet 13 is dein'ergizecLt-he valve 12 is closed by a spring 14,, and thereby cuts off the. air supply tO'tlle cylinder and also connects the latter to theatmosphere through the. exhaust port 15.

This ma met is con-- uected in a circuit 16 supplied y a battery 17, or other suitable source of current, the

circuit. being controlled by a centrifugal device 18, which is driven'by a connection 19 with one of the vehicle axles 20.

In the drawing, I have shown the axle 20' as rovided with a bevel gear 21, the teeth of which are engaged by a bevel pinion 22- on a short shaft 23 to which the flexible con: ncction 19 is attached. the flexible connection 19 is attached to the ice The other end. of

shaft 18 of the centrifugal device, which is here shown as being similar to an ordinary centrifugal governor. The movable memher 18 of this device is shown as arranged to engage and actuate an arm 24 carrying a contact 25, which by .ehgagement with the cooperating contact 26 normally closes the I trips circuit 16. Any suitable form of centrifugal device actuated by a suitable connection with any moving art of the train or vehicle may, however,

employed to control the circuit 16.

.. 27 designates a depending trip arm, which is arrange toengage and be operated by track laced at desired points alon the track one of which is shown at 28 inotted lines). These track trips are placed at the desired points along the track, and may be controlled by connection with y the usual block-signaling mechanism, or in any other suitablemanner. The arms 27 are secured to the frame of the, locomotive or other vehicle, so as'to depend in position to engage these trips. The arm 27 is carried by the shaft 29,. to which isv secured a three-way 26 valve 30 seated in a casing 31, which is connected by a. ipe or passage 32 with that end of the cylin er 6 in which the smaller piston 7 is seated; The same end of the cylinder 6 :the train pipe 2.

is connected by a port 33 and pipe 34 with The three-wayvalve 30 has three positions. In one of these posi- ",tions it closes the pipe 32 and in its other two 'position'js itconnects the said pipe with one or the other of the exhaust passages'35 in the casing 31 (se'e 'Fi 2).

The shaft 29 as a crank 29, which is connected by a pitman 36 with a piston head 37, working in'a. cylinder 38,.Which is connected by a ipe 39 with that end 'of the cylinde'." 6 in w ich is seated the larger piston 8.

Iii the modification shown in Fig. 8, the

shaft 29 'has two crank pins'29", which are engaged by a cam slot 29 on the lower end of the pitman 36. This insures the return of the cranks to a definitevertical position aftcreach "0' ration, and eliminates the pos- 'si bility of 'ead centers.

" tainedlopen' b device 18, an

' the cylinder 6 l sure acting- 5 8 from the position shown in left,-'thereby closing the entrance from said time, the trip arm The 0 eranon' is as follows: So long as the spec of. the train'exceeds a certain'predetermined rate, the circuit 16 will be main-- the action of the centrifugal ressure will be cut off from upon' the smaller p'ist0ri"7, sup plied' by t e ports 33 and connection 34 to the-train pipe, will move the istons 7 and'' ig. 1 to" the ylinder to the pipe 39 and connecting the" pipe-34 with the pipe 32.' If, during this exiaust-ports 35. This will cause an err-- y the valve 12. The pres is engaged by one of" the track'trips 28, the shaft 29 will be rocked "in- 'one'--'direetion or the other to connect the -pi 6'32-'With the atmosphere to one of the haust from the train pipe 2, and will thereby apply the brakes. The trip arm 27 will re main in the position to which it is moved by its engagement with the track trip 28 by the inertia of the parts, there being no pressure in the cylinder 38, and air will continue to exhaust from the train pipe until the speed of the train has fallen below the predetermined rate. When the speed of the .train has fallen below the predetermined rate, the centrifugal device 18 will no longer hold the circuit 16 open, and said circuit will close, thereby energizing the magnet 13. The valve 12 now opens and pressure is admitted froin the reservoir 4 to the larger end of the cylinder 6. The action of this pressure against the piston 8 overbalances the pressure acting upon the smaller piston 7, and the pistons are moved to the positions shown in Fig.1, thereby cutting off the comnuinication between the pipes 34 and 32 and at thesauie time admitting pressure from the cylinder 6 to the cylinder 38. This pressure acting upon the piston-37will, through lhe pitman 36, close the valve 30 and return the trip arm to its normal position. If the speed of the train is below the predeter mined rate at the time the arm 27 is engaged by one of the track trips, the valve 30 will momentarily-open, but th :re will be no escape of air, since the piston 7 is acting as a valve toclose the communication between the pi e 34 and the pipe 32, said pistonbein" he (1 in this position by the pressure a inst the piston 8. The pressure in the cylinder 38 will immediately close the valve 30 and return the trip arm 37 to its normal position.

It will therefore be observed that the a paratus describedhas no influence'upon t e speed of the train in passing one of the track trips, provided such speed is already below the predetermined however, the speed isabove the'apparatus will act to effect a reduction ofthe train pipe pressure, and thereby a reduction of limit."

'In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the

maximum. If,

electro-mag'net 13, together"with its circuit,

is omitted, and a-"centrifugal device 40, which is similar to centrifugal device,18,' is

such' maximum,

the'train speed to the desired connected directly to the stem of-the valve 41, which corresponds to the valve 12 of Fig. 1, and which 'controls the communication between the'tank or reservoir 4- and-the when the'speed ofthe train isbelow the'predetemined rate the valve ii is held open and cylinder 6. In this form,

f air is admitted from'the reservoir to the cylinder 6. When the speed is above the predetermiiiedrate thevalve'is' closed andthe-conimrinit'sation and the: cylinder is between the reservoir shut-off; 1n the modificatio cylinder 6 and the pistons 7- and 8 are omit ted, and the electro-magnet "13' is made to mind the valve *2 which era-arch the mim'ication between the pipe 11 leading from.

the reservoir 4 and the-pi pe'4 3 leatlin Efrem the'valve 42 directly to the cylinder 3 The valve-chamber 31, containing the three-way valve 30 is in this form directly connected to the train pipe by. ipe 44. This arrangement efiect-s substantial y the same result 'as that of Fig. l eicecpt that it permits air to escape from the train-pi )e while the trip-arm or lcveris being moved (litions, there icing no secondary valve for shutting oil the escape connection with the train pipe when the speed of the train below the predetermined rate. \Vhile this is not a serious objection; this arrangement is not as desirable as that shown'injl w. 1 for the-reason that in the event-0f the lltlll] couring to a full. stop whileth'e trip arm lS lll contact with a deflector by the track trip,

an, accumulation of air pressure in the tram position of. thetlirui ivliy:

"It is ol vions that lhc p azure ll] thc'rcser? voir may-he derivedfrom some other source pipe will he prevented by reasonot the open than the train pipe. alao that some other .fluid .hcsldcs air may he used. [for instance,

a tank of' carbonic acid gas maybe 'sirhstituted for the reservoir shown without fdeparting, in" anv way from the purpose and scope of the invention; the purpose of this reservoir or its equivalent"living: to maintain a sufficient-prcssuro to oiled the cloelngof the three-way escape valve notwithstanding thcrcduction of pressure in th'etrain pipe.

The modification shown in Fig. 6 is a still more simplearrangement of the parts. In

this form of the invention avalve'45'isplaced,

between the train pipe and the usual. train :UlltOl' lever 47'. "The stein of the valvc 4!) I has a collimation 4 8 with a piaton 49 work:

in;' in a, cylinder 50-. which is rom'iectcd by a pipe 51 with the train, p pe through a port .52, controlled hy an -elcctro-iuagnctic actuatcd valve siinilar innll "respects to that.

show lrin Figs. 1 and 5. the original 53 which controls-this valve being! included, in a circui tr-(mtrollodflhy a cputri liup al devic 3:

driven-h gear connections \vitli'onc of thejaxlcs. The valve 45' is ,:-i,m-pl v opened Iii closed l y the action ("If the piston 41 lhc urcfin the "latter living; (-onlrolli'al hv .of t e invention. [lot-r;- not} restore-thc'system to -tlio 'ii ornia l'condition after the stop valve .ha': lityenflactua-tmlt hut. depends upon manual o 'ie'ration's for there-settling ,ot' the valve in actordanccjv'rith the gei'ic'ral "practicc heretofore. The, piston 40 holds'the valve 45 jclosed" ata'll times when the speed of the -trmn is below the prcclet'errnined maximum,

same tothe nylindcr 59, a tithe valve .o )end, so that when the ,trip arm or lever l) thc tracl; trip under all con 'p but at all other tiines,-the magnet 53-is deenergiz'ed, thus cutting off the supply of pres- 4 is engaged by one of the'track tri s the train pipe'willbe exhausted at th e va ve l6. I be obvious that any suitable ar- It wi rangen'ient of indicators may be provided in the circuit fvt'which will enable the engine.- man orinotorman to ascertain just when he is exceeding'the requisite speed for Missing over a track-trip without setti'ng his wakes,

or this may be determined in any well known way by pressure. gage attachment'to the pipe 39 0f Figld on the pipe 43 of- Fig. 5. v A whistle-43f may alsofhe attached to thevalve casingt-ifi, shown in' Fig. 7, and 'which will 30 isopened in either direction.

The advanta es .of, myflinvention result be blown by the escaping air when the valve ffrorh -ithe simplicity of the arrangement, 'wherebymechanical lockingdevices of any kind are avoidedjfor the valves; and the parts are so --arranged that there is nothing to prevent: their-free and' accurate working under all conditions.

I desire itito hennderst-ood that the word train? as used herein and in the claims, is designed to apply not-only to trains proper but to vehicles of any. kind either singly or attached, whose speed i'tfmay be desired to .eontrol automatically at desired points.

.It will also be understoovl'that the details of the mechanism. such as the character and ,construction of the several valves, and the arrangement of the ports and pipeeonnec tions. may be widely varied, without depa1=t-- 2. ln apparatuw for .the' rontrol of railway 'traiur-:. a trip device, a train ii -.iti-l'i-ili-zlatlvalve controlled hy the movement offthe trip device, a"sccond valve interposed helwccn the release valve and the train piptu and means; controlled by the speed of the train for controlling: the position of thfsaid.

second valve; substantially as dcsrrihcd.

P5. In apparatusfor the control of train pipes, a release valve. a trip. device arranged to open said valve, a motive device for r-losing said valve, and speed-control mez'i'ns'for controlling the motive-device; substantially as described.

Lin apparatus for train controh-a trip 11. exhaust of air from the said valve except-'- und'cr predetermined con ditions-zsuhstan- A 7 arm, a release valve connected to said arm.

to be opened and closed by the moveme t thereof, a motive devi'ce arranged to close said valve and to return the trip arm to" normal position after operation, and speedcontrolled means for controlling the operation of the motive device; substantial y as described. p

5. In apparatus for train control, train pipe release valve, a trip device for opening said valve, a speed control mechanism for automatically closing said valve after a defi-'- nit-e reduction in speed and for also returnin the trip device to its normal position; su )stanti-ally as described. i

6. In apparatus for train control, a trip operated escape valve, and means controlle by the-speed of the train for'automatically closing said valve u on a predetermined re- 20 duction in speed and for simultaneously re;

turning the trip mechanism to norm tion; substantially as described.

7. In apparatus for train .control, a trip arm, a shaft to which the trip ,a-rm is connected, a trainpipe release valve also connected to said shaft, and a motor for operating said shaft to close the valve and return the trip arm to normal 'position together with means controlled by the speed of the train for controlling the operation of said motor; substantially as described. In apparatus for train control, a trip arm, a sh'aft to which the trip arm is connected, a train ipe release valve also con- 85 mated to said 'siiaft, a motor for operating said shaft to close the valve and return the trip arm to normal position, together withmeans controlled by the speed of the train for controlling the operatlon of the motor; substantially as described.

9. In apparatus 'for traincontrol,

f operated train pi al posia trip exhaust valve, a motor connected to 'sai valve, and means controlled y the speed of tho'train for controlfling the su ply of motive fluid to the motor;

substantia y as described- 10. In apparatus for the control of railway trains, a trip device, a train pipecs cape valve arranged to be opened by the trip 60 device,a motor normally acting to'holdthe 'mp device in its normal position with the escape valve closed, and means for controlling the su ply of operating fluid to the motor controlfed by the speed of the train; substantially as described. a

' 11 Inapparatus for train control, a train pipeescape virlve,a tripmechanism arranged .ductlon in speed 1pc and the release l to open said valve, aljsecondary valve interposed'betwe'en the train valve',and means contro ed by the s eed of the train for controlling said secon valve, and also for closing the first-named valve;

substantially-as described. h

-' said cylinder,

- a reservoir for motive cylinderf speed of the train for eospeu pipe release valve,..h trip arm ior-le'ver-arranged to opensaid valve,.-a, cylinder having a piston therein 'connectedto the said arm or lever and to the vflbfi, and meanscontrolled by speed of the" train, governing the admissi' o motive fluid to saidcylinder; substantially as described. p 13.v In apparatusfor'the control of railway'trains, a train-pipe release valve, atrip device for opening sa d valve a motive cyltinder for'closing said va vean for-returning her p m to ndn m 'ir n, e-mse f ppl pressure the motive cylin- 'lve or controlling said sup ly, and

meansgcpntrolled -by the speed of it e train g 'forjj'c'ontrolling the goperation ofthe, lastnamed valve; substantially as described,

14. In apparatus iortraincontrol, a train irelease. valvegi trip-"ifm'for opening said valve, a moti'ecylinder-forclosingthe valve,areservoir- -tor supplying ressure to 35 'andfmeans contro ed by. the speed of the train for controlling the admissron of motive fluid from the reservoir to the cylinder; substantially as described.

' 15. In apparatus for; traincontrol, a train pipe release valve, tri "mechanism for openmg said valve, a motlvelcylinderc for closing the valve, a secondary valve interposed-be tween the train pipeandtlierelease valve,

su plying'the cylinder, and means controlled y the-speed or the train for controlling the supply of motive fluid to said cylinderya'nd' also for'controlling the position of the secondary valve, substantially as described.1, V

16. In 'appagiatus for 'the'control of railway trains, a train pipe release valve, trip mechanism for-o the said .valve, a

orclosing said valve and v for returning theftripmechanism to normal position, a reservoir for en pl ing the 1notivc cylinder, a s econd .,c l in er connected with the reservoir l' o with the train pipe, a connection between-the secondcylinder and the release valve, difie'rential pistons -1 10' in said cylinder, ands, valve copt o the admission of pressure from the reservoir. to the second cyl1nder,means controlled by the tron of the last named valve, an a connection between said cylinder and-the motive cylinder, substantial y as described. 1

In apparatus-for train control, a tri operated-escape valve, and means controllos by the; speed of the train for automatically 12.0 c osing" said valve i on a predetermined reiorslmultaneously relianisnr tonormal posian 'alarmarrangedgpto be :mn

bed.

i 12. In apparatus for train substantially, as descri v for train controhfajtrain ,18. In-apparatus v pipe release yalve, a trip means iorppening controllin the Posi :1

.mal position, means control said valve, a motive cylinder for closing prevent a dead center relation 01 theofieivalve and returning the trifl means ,tovnor' atingpaits, substantinllyns describe; I 10 ed by thev speed -.-In'tes timony whereof, l have hereunto set of the train for controlling the operation of my hand. the motive cylinder, said' valve and the trip; meaushaving a connecting member, and a connection, between the piston of .the cylin der and the connecting member arranged to JQHN- EBESSLEY COLEMAN. Witnesses H PE-R UTRIE, E. HARMEs. 

